Active Digital has recently collaborated with the Festival of The Girl helping them with the digital divide.
Festival of the Girl is a movement committed to advancing equality and promoting inclusivity for all young people, regardless of their identity or gender expression. They are passionate about inspiring girls to believe in their futures and the programme is designed to provide female role models for young people.
The 7-11 age range is a pivotal stage of development for girls and one that is increasingly influenced by societal and peer pressures. Research shows that by age 6, girls’ confidence is significantly lower than boys’ and that by age 11, girls are already struggling with issues such as low self-esteem and negative body image. It’s these girls we want to impact, creating a resilient foundation before they start secondary school and are surrounded by even more prevalent gender stereotyping and higher social media exposure.
As part of a recent conversation with Festival of the Girl organisers, we looked at some recent research when it comes to technology and the digital divide. According to an Ofcom report in 2023 some 1.5 million homes are still offline which can prove to be a disadvantage for young people who value the opportunity to learn online. Ofcom refer to it as the digital divide and in an article published by BBC during the covid pandemic, they found that around 700,000 UK kids did not have the online skills or devices to do homework or school research.
If digital divide is not tackled effectively, there is a risk that technology will continue to deepen inequalities. There is widespread agreement that technology was essential to delivering education during the Coronavirus pandemic, but there is less clarity on how this approach will be used in the long-term. As the pandemic subsides, the need for technology will only grow – in turn demanding a long-term approach that delivers digital inclusion as a key enabler to realising children’s rights to education, information and to leisure, play and culture.
Some of this research played a key part in motivating us to reach out to Festival of the Girl, to see how we can help with their digital divide. In turn, we have collaborated to provide free internet this summer to twenty girls in the UK who wouldn’t normally have access. This will allow the girls to access their YouTube channel with over 80 fun and inspiring activity videos that they can enjoy over the summer holidays. Not forgetting the Festival of The Girl free online resources and activity book too.
About the Festival
This year, Festival of the Girl is back and better than ever. Festival of The Girl 2024 is returning to the Business Design Centre Islington, North London on Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th October 2024. The festival team will soon be announcing the line-up but rest assured, any girls attending will experience everything from coding to art, sports to periods, experiments to activism, engineering to body confidence, friendships to sustainability and so much more!
Over the last few years, the festival team have heard from families who aren’t able to attend our festivals as they are not accessible enough for children with SEND. It is these families they want to welcome at their Saturday SEND session.
This year, they will be hosting their first ever Festival of The Girl Awards! These awards will involve girls nominating their friends for one of these three awards:
With the help of their Festival of The Girl Youth Ambassadors and some of the incredible Festival of The Girl 2024 contributors, the winners will be picked and invited to take part in their award ceremony on Saturday 5th October. With some very special guests, you don’t want to miss out!
Further details can be found here.
And Finally…
Do you know any charities, organisations or families that would benefit from a similar partnership collaboration and support with the digital divide? If so, please do get in touch so we can reach them.
Please help by sharing this blog. No girl should miss out. Lets tackle the digital divide together.
You can read more about our other collaborations here.
